Commercial Link:
Where can I sign up? I have seen this following weight lose product advertised repeatedly on television and have always wondered, like I’m sure many have, can it be true? According to the original commercial I viewed there was a bold claim that 78% of the weight lost was pure body fat. This number immediately catches the attention of the viewer because such thoughts as I can lose that much weight enter the mind. After viewing the commercial a few times it became clear that that piece of data is purposefully shown the way it is because it represents the amount of body fat lost for those that lost weight. How many actually lost weight? Upon visiting there website it was clear to me that they wanted it to be know that their data was clinically proven.
This is the first thing you see when you arrive at the website. Well, if they say it’s clinically proven, then it must be? The woman in the photograph looks fit and toned, she must use lipozene, and it must really work? The advertisements, both commercial and print, are clearly targeted at women. So I was not surprised that when I when to investigate their studies that the subjects were all women. The commercial speaks about a double blind study to I went to look into this study. EFFECT OF GLUCOMANNAN ON OBESE PATIETNS: A CLINICAL STUDY. The title alone raised some questions for me. So, this pill only works for obese patients; patients, whom I quickly came to see, meant only women.
With 20 million bottles sold, I was surprised to see that only 20 subjects were used for this important and life-changing weight lose pill. The study is very clear about the type of women they used, even though they also mentioned that they used random sampled based on the women that responded to participate in the study. It is not clear how many applied to participate, but from that large group, two smaller groups of ten were created based on similarities in weight and height. No where in the study does it define what obese means for the purpose of this study, but based on the weight ranges provided, anywhere from 132-218 qualifies for obesity. Table 1 also point to the height being a factor, but does not report anything about height. Interesting.
Going back to the set up of the study, subjects were asked not to change anything about there eating or exercise routines; however, there is nothing mentioned about what some of those original routines looked like and if the subjects actually continued to follow the same routines during the eight week study. The study makes to mention of limitations to the research, but it is clear that because these 20 women wanted to lose weight, they would have made sure it happened for the purpose of the data and themselves. Of course, we cannot be sure because there is no mention. In terms of the routines, the study actually comments that subjects took the pill before each of the 3 meals per day. This therefore assumes that subjects only ate 3 times a day. I believe it is safe to say that that would not be routine for most individually. They were allowed to eat whatever they wanted, but again there is no information on what was actually consumed after the pill. Many questions come to mind directly from what was stated or not stated in the paper.
The results section of the study does little to clear up the questions raised. Originally, the placebo group had a lower mean weight than the glucomannan group, however, after eight weeks, had gained approximately a pound while the glucomanna group had lost 5.5 pounds. Table 2 reports significant differences between the groups, yet there is less than 3 pounds in difference. There is nothing reported on what could account for a minor weight gain in the placebo group. The results section also speaks to the feeling the subjects had, in that they felt full after taking the capsule. Subjects did not know if they were taking the placebo or the actual pill, and it is not clear which individually reports feeling full. Was it all, some, only those in one group? The researchers do state that no complete survey was done, but for future research it would be worth conducting.
I feel that often consumers are misled to feel that they can trust a product because it stated in the advertisements that it is clinically proven. For most individuals that is enough to feel confident in trying the product. However, if one takes the time to actually look at the research that they openly provide consumers with it becomes clear that the magic pills are not all they appear to be. I found this opportunity really valuable because as a woman who has struggled with weight issues I feel that I am part of the target group of these advertisements and that they are misleading. As consumers we want to trust that when research is conducted that there must be some form of reliability to the product being advertised. I quickly realized that my doubts had merit because there is little that is reliable in this study. The fact that a supposed 20 million bottle have sold for this product is upsetting. Women struggling to lose weight are wasting there time and money weighting for a capsule to magically dissolve their fat, while they are likely not changing anything about there diet or exercise routine. My guess is that they will be ‘weighting’ for a long time.